NZ dollar soars against Australian rival

THE New Zealand dollar touched an eight-year high against its trans-Tasman counterpart ahead of Australia employment figures.

The kiwi rose as high as 93.96 Australian cents, the highest it has been since December 2005, and traded at 93.51 cents at 8am in Wellington from 93.40 cents on Wednesday.

The local currency was little changed at 83.32 US cents from 83.36 cents.

Australia's unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.8 per cent as 7,500 jobs were added in December, according to a Reuters survey of economists

Investors are gauging the impact of the Reserve Bank of Australia's rate cuts last year as the nation's economy slows down amid dwindling demand for its hard commodity exports. That's at odds with the gathering momentum in New Zealand, and seen the kiwi become a favourite among investors.

"If we get a stronger Australian jobs number, the Aussie could definitely spike back up again," said ASB's Tim Kelleher.

The local currency edged up to 87.18 yen from 87 yen, was little changed at 61.29 euro cents from 61.13 cents and increased to 50.92 British pence from 50.76 pence.